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A study on sediment surface diatom composition in relation to both protein/carbohydrate content and salinity was carried out in Montevideo Bay and the adjacent coastal zone. Samples were seasonally taken during one year along a human impact gradient, and the trophic conditions were assessed from the biochemical composition of the surface sediment organic matter. The co-occurrence of the marine-brackish (Actinocyclus curvatulus, Actinocyclus gallicus, Coscinodiscus excentricus, Coscinodiscus radiatus, Hyalodiscus subtilis, Paralia sulcata) and freshwater diatom flora (Aulacoseira granulata, Aulacoseira italica, Aulacoseira muzzanensis, Actinocyclus normanii, Amphora copulata, Cyclotella meneghiniana, Nitzschia linearis), suggests myxohaline estuarine conditions in the study area. The sampling stations located within the bay, close to several contamination sources, exhibited hypertrophic conditions as indicated by the highest levels of protein content, but also by the high relative abundances of Actinocyclus normanii and Cyclotella meneghiniana, as both diatom species are very well established cosmopolitan proxies of aquatic degradation. The levels of both protein and carbohydrate content, but also photosynthetic pigments, recorded in the adjacent coastal zone suggest meso-eutrophic conditions as contamination levels from the inner bay might become diluted off shore. Multivariate diatom species-environmental data relationships, indicate that the trophic gradient is hierarchically more important than salinity in explaining the diatom distribution. The present data imply an improvement in our ability of assessing organic contamination in the study area, since both biological and biopolymer variables were introduced for the first time as a tool for assessing the benthic health/degradation in one of the most populated regions of the Río de la Plata.Foi realizado um estudo da salinidade e da composição das diatomáceas presentes no sedimento superficial em relação ao conteúdo de proteínas/carboidratos na Baía de Montevidéu e região costeira adjacente. Foram obtidas amostras sazonalmente durante um ano ao longo de um gradiente de impacto ambiental humano, e as condições tróficas foram determinadas através da análise da composição bioquímica da matéria orgânica do sedimento superficial. A coocorrência de espécies de diatomáceas marinhas-salobras, (Actinocyclus curvatulus, Actinocyclus gallicus, Coscinodiscus excentricus, Coscinodiscus radiatus, Hyalodiscus subtilis, Paralia sulcata) e diatomáceas indicadoras de águas doces (Aulacoseira granulata, Aulacoseira italica, Aulacoseira muzzanensis, Actinocyclus normanii, Amphora copulata, Cyclotella meneghiniana, Nitzschia linearis) sugerem condições mixohalinas estuarinas na área de estudo. As estações amostradas dentro da baía, próximas às fontes contaminadoras, apresentam condições hipertróficas apontadas pelos maiores valores de proteínas e pela alta abundância relativa de Actinocyclus normanii e Cyclotella meneghiniana, sendo que ambas espécies são consideradas cosmopolitas e indicadoras de degradação aquática. As concentrações de proteínas e carboidratos, bem como os pigmentos fotossintéticos registrados na região costeira adjacente sugerem condições meso-eutróficas e uma diluição dos níveis de contaminação do interior da baía rumo à região externa. A análise multivariada entre espécies de diatomáceas e parâmetros ambientais indica que o gradiente trófico possui hierarquicamente maior peso que a salinidade na explicação da distribuição das diatomáceas. Os resultados obtidos demonstram um aperfeiçoamento na habilidade de determinar a contaminação orgânica dentro da área de estudo, já que pela primeira vez tanto as variáveis orgânicas quanto os biopolímeros foram introduzidos como ferramenta para a determinação da relação degradação/saúde de uma das mais populosas regiões do Río de la Plata.

Abstract The Northern Antarctic Peninsula (NAP) and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) are likely to respond rapidly to climate changes by increasing the collapse of peripheral ice shelves and the number of days above 0 °C. These facts make this region a representative hotspot of the global sea level rise and the location of one of the global climate tipping points (thresholds in the Earth system whose changes may become irreversible, if exceeded). Understanding the climate evolution of the NAP, based on past evidences, may help infer its future scenario. Herein, from a comprehensive survey of lacustrine sedimentation in proglacial and periglacial lakes/ponds, we investigated the impact of climate changes on the terrestrial environment in two complementary time scales (Late Holocene and contemporary age). For the longer time scale, regional climate database and biogeochemical properties of Lake Long/NAP sediment core, suggest warming between 4.0 and 2.0 kyr BP following a cooling phase towards the present, that endorse previously suggested Late Holocene Neoglacial (LHN). We attribute the LHN phase to a combined action of long-term decline in total solar irradiance, the Andean volcanism and the El Niño Southern Oscillation. For the contemporary age, we found a rapid coupled response of atmosphere/cryosphere/lithosphere to present warming levels.

Abstract Aim Urbanization leads to rapid changes in ecosystem structure and function. Wetlands on university campuses under urbanization pressure could be used as case studies of multidisciplinary aquatic research and good environmental practices promoting sustainability. Methods A paleolimnological study was undertaken in a semi-artificial lake on a university campus in southern Brazil to trace historical impacts and ecological changes back to the mid-1970s through complementary approaches: historical data, nutrients, δ13C and δ15N stable isotopes, diatoms, microplastics and associated microbial community analysis. Results The eutrophication process started to intensify after the lake was used for nocturnal roosting by waterbirds, and especially after the establishment of constructions along the margins with septic tank sanitary sewage, which eventually spilled and leached into the lake. Over decades, we identified a limnological hypertrophication process leading to recurrent cyanobacterial blooms and massive macrophyte proliferation coupled with changes in isotopic ratios and algal occupation with several transitions between shallow lake alternative states. Such a limnological process has resembled the paleolimnological eutrophication trends and isotopic changes in sedimentary organic matter. The microplastic deposition was detected as a proxy for the intensification of urbanization, especially during the construction of the University facilities. Conclusions The combined use of paleolimnological and historical limnological data represents a powerful approach for inferring both natural and cultural impacts on the lake, and identifying management strategies based on such scientific information.

El objetivo de este trabajo es definir unidades depositacionales y realizar inferencias paleoambientales a partir del análisis de facies y del contenido paleobiológico (moluscos, fitolitos y diatomeas) de depósitos acotados cronológicamente entre ca.

El Río de la Plata (RdlP) presenta significativas variaciones naturales (hidro- dinámicas y oceanográficas) asociadas a diferentes condiciones climáticas. El propósito de este trabajo es inferir los cambios de aportes continentales de sedimentos y su relación con las variaciones hidrológicas del Río de la Plata, a través del análisis de proxies sedimentológicos y geoquímicos en testigos de sedimentos de la plataforma interna uruguaya que registran los últimos 100 años, aproximadamente. A partir de la datación por 210Pb de dos testigos de sedimentos (GeoB 13813-4 y BAR1) se reconstruyó la geocronología del ambiente, y se relacionó con datos de las forzantes climáticas Pacific decadal oscillation, El Niño/La Niña southern oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal oscillation, y las anomalías hidrológicas de los ríos Paraná y Uruguay. Los valores más positivos y estables del southern oscillation index, los cuales corresponden a fases La Niña, se observan en el periodo correspondiente entre 1910-1970, respecto al resto de la serie, donde se aprecia una mayor variabilidad y una tendencia hacia valores más negativos (eventos El Niño). Se hicieron dendrogramas (clustering) jerárquicos para ambos testigos. Para el testigo GeoB 13813-4, se utilizó la relación Ca/Ti y la granulometría, mientras que para BAR1 se recurrió a variables granulométricas y la tasa de sedimentación. El mayor aporte continental hacia la región de la plataforma adyacente al Río de la Plata registrado a partir del año 1970, podría ser el factor principal de los agrupamientos observados en los clusters para ambos testigos. Las agrupaciones mostraron una diferenciación en la década de 1970, lo que estaría asociado al aumento de los caudales de los ríos Paraná y Uruguay, durante las últimas tres décadas del siglo XX. Por otra parte se observa que la granulometría del testigo BAR1 presentó un mayor tamaño de grano y más variabilidad que en el caso del testigo GeoB 13813-4. También se determinó una mayor acumulación de sedimentos a través del tiempo en el cinturón de barro del Río de la Plata (plataforma continental adyacente), comparado con aquel registrado en la Barra del Indio (límite entre zona intermedia y externa del estuario). Estas diferencias podrían estar relacionadas con la influencia del Río de la Plata, el cual genera un ambiente altamente dinámico sobre la Barra del Indio y un ambiente más estable sobre el cinturón de barro en la plataforma continental.

AbstractSituated opposite the Freshwater Front, Montevideo city with its more than 1.5 million inhabitants encircles Montevideo Bay, where one of the most active and polluted harbors in South America is located. Faecal sterols, trace metals, organochlorine compounds and petroleum derivatives in the sediments of Montevideo Harbor were evaluated and their spatial distribution inside the harbor as well as in the input of two main tributary streams analyzed. Specifically for the harbor sites, a temporal comparison of metal and hydrocarbons was made with previous measurements taken 12 years ago. Clear changes were observed at these sites. The concentration of metals such as Pb, Cr and Zn have diminished, while aliphatic hydrocarbons have increased their values at almost all of the stations studied. Differences were observed between summer and winter suggesting sedimentation, input or hydrodynamic changes in the area. These results help one to understand the present situation and develop the management measures needed to improve the environmental quality of the harbor and bay.

El objetivo de este trabajo es definir unidades depositacionales y realizar inferencias paleoambientales a partir del análisis de facies y del contenido paleobiológico (moluscos, fitolitos y diatomeas) de depósitos acotados cronológicamente entre ca. The sedimentary sequences exposed in cutbanks of the middle course of the Luján river preserve important paleoenvironmental information on the late Quaternary climatic evolution of the north-eastern Pampean region. The objective of this paper is to define depositional units and infer the paleoenvironmental conditions from the analysis of the sedimentary facies and the paleobiological content (mollusks, phytoliths and diatoms) of the sequences dated between ca. 70,000 and 11,000 yr BP, Oxygen Isotopic States (OIS) 4 to 2, of the middle region of the Luján river basin. This paper follows on from previous studies about the reconstructions of the paleoenvironmental and climatic changes in the northern region of the Buenos Aires Province presented by Dangavs and Blasi (1995), Prieto et al. (2004) Fucks et al. (2005), Fucks and Deschamps (2008) and Blasi et al. (2008, 2009a, b). A late Pleistocene-Holocene cutbank (PT-H) is preserved along the banks of the Luján river where three sections were analyzed (Table 1). The lower exposures, found from the present river level to halfway up the bank show late Pleistocene materials, while the upper portion shows Holocene fluvio-lacustrine and aeolian deposits. The Holocene deposits overlie paraconformably and start with a high organic matter concentration level which was deposited ca. 11,000 14C yr BP in a lentic environment of meso-eutrophical characteristic (Prieto et al., 2004). Between the Jáuregui and Manzanares cities the PT-H cut bank is not continuous but alternates with deposits from a previous sedimentary cycle that we informally named "Pampeano" (Ameghino, 1884; Dangavs and Blasi, 1995). This last unit constitutes the present fluvial channel floor and interfluvial deposits of this region. The development of the cutbanks studied here is likely to be related to a late Holocene fluvial incision of the late Pleistocene-Holocene sediments and aeolian, fluvial and lacustrine deposits that infill blowout depressions (Ameghino, 1880-1881, 1884; Frenguelli, 1925; Dangavs and Blasi, 1995). Three sections along the middle course of the Luján river were selected for the production of seven detailed stratigraphic profiles (Table 1), for collecting samples for sedimentological and paleobiological analyses (Table 2), and for radiocarbon and IRSL dating (Table 3). The late Pleistocene sedimentary record (ca.

El Río de la Plata (RdlP) presenta significativas variaciones naturales (hidrodinámicas y oceanográficas) asociadas a diferentes condiciones climáticas. El propósito de este trabajo es inferir los cambios de aportes continentales de sedimentos y su relación con las variaciones hidrológicas del Río de la Plata, a través del análisis de proxies sedimentológicos y geoquímicos en testigos de sedimentos de la plataforma interna uruguaya que registran los últimos 100 años, aproximadamente. A partir de la datación por 210Pb de dos testigos de sedimentos (GeoB 13813-4 y BAR1) se reconstruyó la geocronología del ambiente, y se relacionó con datos de las forzantes climáticas Pacific Decadal Oscillation, El Niño/La Niña Southern Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, y las anomalías hidrológicas de los ríos Paraná y Uruguay. Los valores más positivos y estables del Southern Oscillation Index, los cuales corresponden a fases La Niña, se observan en el periodo correspondiente entre 1910-1970, respecto al resto de la serie, donde se aprecia una mayor variabilidad y una tendencia hacia valores más negativos (eventos El Niño). Se hicieron dendrogramas (clustering) jerárquicos para ambos testigos. Para el testigo GeoB 13813-4, se utilizó la relación Ca/Ti y la granulometría, mientras que para BAR1 se recurrió a variables granulométricas y la tasa de sedimentación. El mayor aporte continental hacia la región de la plataforma adyacente al Río de la Plata registrado a partir del año 1970, podría ser el factor principal de los agrupamientos observados en los clusters para ambos testigos. Las agrupaciones mostraron una diferenciación en la década de 1970, lo que estaría asociado al aumento de los caudales de los ríos Paraná y Uruguay, durante las últimas tres décadas del siglo XX. Por otra parte se observa que la granulometría del testigo BAR1 presentó un mayor tamaño de grano y más variabilidad que en el caso del testigo GeoB 13813-4. También se determinó una mayor acumulación de sedimentos a través del tiempo en el cinturón de barro del Río de la Plata (plataforma continental adyacente), comparado con aquel registrado en la Barra del Indio (límite entre zona intermedia y externa del estuario). Estas diferencias podrían estar relacionadas con la influencia del Río de la Plata, el cual genera un ambiente altamente dinámico sobre la Barra del Indio y un ambiente más estable sobre el cinturón de barro en la plataforma continental.

El objetivo de este trabajo es definir unidades depositacionales y realizar inferencias paleoambientales a partir del análisis de facies y del contenido paleobiológico (moluscos, fitolitos y diatomeas) de depósitos acotados cronológicamente entre ca.